Retail sales in South Korea shot up 13.7 percent on-year in April on the back of an economic recovery amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 12.3 trillion won (US$11 billion) last month, up from 10.8 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores jumped 11.2 percent over the cited period as consumers, less wary of the pan

South Korea said Thursday it plans to allocate 90 billion won ($80.6 million) by next year to carry out research and development projects for electrofuel, in line with its vision to go carbon neutral by 2050. Electrofuel refers to an environment-friendly energy source that can be used in traditional fossil fuel-powered automobiles. It is produced by synthesizing hydrogen and other gases, including carbon dioxide and nitrogen. South Korea announced last year it will effectively reduce its emiss

Jeju Island, South Korea's most popular holiday destination, appears to be increasingly favored by locals as an alternative to overseas travel amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a report indicated Thursday. The report released by the state-funded Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) showed that domestic tourism to the southern resort island has been almost fully restored to the pre-coronavirus level amid overseas travel restrictions. It said the number of Koreans who went abroad in Ma

South Korea's exports of grapes shot up 35 percent on-year in 2020 to set a new record high, data showed Thursday, on the back of the growing popularity of local agricultural products overseas. Outbound shipments of grapes came to $30.7 million in 2020, compared with $22.8 million posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Over the first four months of 2021, exports of grapes came to $7.2 million, also up nearly 50 percent from

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it will ease some preventive measures against avian influenza and instead provide more incentives to chicken farms. Under the plan, the ministry will spare birds from poultry farms that have strictly followed preventive measures in case of another outbreak of the highly contagious animal disease in the region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Currently, birds of the same species within a 1-kilometer radius of in

BTS has set five new Guinness World Records (GWR) titles with its latest release "Butter." Most of the records came from YouTube, where the group outdid its own records achieved with the 2020 megahit "Dynamite." On YouTube, the music video for the septet's new single was certified for achieving the most views in 24 hours with 108.2 million views and as the most-viewed video by a K-pop group in 24 hours, according to the website of GWR. It also garnered the most views for t

Three more Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. Two soldiers, based in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and the border county of Cheorwon, respectively, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after virus cases were reported at their units, according to the ministry. An officer in the northeastern county of Inje tested positive upon return from a vacation. The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the militar

South Korea's Cannes-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has had his name listed in a renowned French encyclopedia for his cinematic achievements and recognition in the European nation, a report showed Thursday. In the latest edition of "Petit Larousse Illustre," a French-language encyclopedic dictionary launched in 1905, the South Korean director won a page, along with 40 new figures from various sectors like literature, cinema and sports, according to the report by the Korea Creative Con

South Korea's veterans affairs ministry said Thursday it has provided 10,000 additional face masks to Colombia to express gratitude for the country's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The masks were delivered Tuesday as Minister Hwang Ki-chul was in the Latin American country to strengthen the bilateral friendship and cooperation, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. South Korea earlier delivered 140,000 face masks to Colombia to help the country cope with the new

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it has approved SK hynix Inc.'s deal to acquire Intel Corp.'s NAND business. Last October, SK hynix, the country's No. 2 chipmaker, signed a deal to buy Intel's non-volatile memory unit for $9 billion, and submitted an application for approval to Seoul's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in January. SK hynix previously received approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. Antitrust reviews from five other countries, including China and Bri

South Korea's central bank on Thursday sharply raised its 2021 growth outlook to 4 percent, while holding its benchmark policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, amid a strong rebound in exports. Buoyed by signs of a robust recovery in exports, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its growth outlook to 4 percent for this year, and to 3 percent for next year. The BOK's February forecast was that South Korea's economy would grow 3 percent this year. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the pace of e

South Korea's new daily coronavirus cases fell back below 700 again Thursday, but the country is grappling with sporadic cluster infections amid the rising number of travelers enjoying warm weather. The country reported 629 more COVID-19 cases, including 620 local infections, raising the total caseload to 138,311, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily cases reached a two-week high of 707 the previous day, rising from 516 tallied Tuesday. There were three additiona

Samsung Electronics Co. further expanded its leadership in the global NAND flash market in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, despite an overall decline in chip prices. The South Korean tech giant, also the leader in the DRAM sector, had a 33.5 percent share of the global NAND flash market in terms of revenue in the January-March period, up 0.6 percentage point from a quarter earlier, according to market tracker TrendForce. Samsung's revenue from NAND flash products came

President Moon Jae-in will convene a meeting with top government and ruling party officials Thursday on next year's budget and midterm fiscal policy, according to his office. The 2021 National Fiscal Strategy Meeting comes as South Korea is taking expansionary fiscal policy measures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other participants include Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party. They plan to discuss a 2021 state

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday, as investors continued to wait for the upcoming release of key consumption data in the United States that is widely seen as a gauge for inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) traded down 0.54 points, or 0.02 percent, at 3,167.89 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a muted start as investor caution grew while waiting for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data, or core PCE, known to

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on his country's largest trade union to wage a "do-or-die battle" against non-socialist practices in a letter he sent to mark its latest congress session, state media said Thursday. The eighth congress of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK) was held in Pyongyang on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The congress was held for the first time in about five years. "They should br

President Moon Jae-in has rolled up his sleeves to raise public awareness on a global climate summit to open this weekend. South Korea is scheduled to host the two-day virtual summit of global leaders, officially named the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit, which opens Sunday. It will be joined by dozens of leaders of foreign countries and international organizations, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It has not revealed the list of participants yet. P4G, which stands for Partnering for Green Growth and the Glo

South Korea's exports are expected to rise a whopping 47.5 percent on-year in May on the back of the global economic recovery, which led to higher demand for chips and automobiles, a poll showed Thursday. Outbound shipments are estimated at US$51.3 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was conducted on eight brokerage houses. Imports are estimated to rise 39.8 percent over the period to $48.4 billion, resulting in

South Korea has signed a US-led international program to send humans to the moon again and further explore Earth's only satellite, the science ministry said Thursday. Science Minister Lim Hye-sook signed the Artemis Accords as a follow-up on an agreement reached at a recent bilateral summit in Washington, becoming the 10th signatory to the pact, the ministry said. The Artemis Accords is an international agreement among governments participating in the Artemis Program, a US-led effort to return

South Korea vowed Wednesday to play a bigger role in easing global shortages of COVID-19 vaccines during a meeting with a group of countries supporting a multilateral trading regime. "To promptly overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that the production and supply of vaccines are expanded around the globe," Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said during the virtual meeting of the Ottawa Group. The Ottawa Group refers to a group of 14 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO)